HISTORY OF
PSYCHOLOGY
YAY! A HISTORY LESSON FOR AP PSYCHOLOGY!
ancient greeks
DUALISM
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divides world into two parts: body & spirit
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body (brain): command center of nervous system
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spirit (mind): sensations, memories, emotions,
thoughts, subjective experiences
ancient greeks
SOCRATES & PLATO
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mind is separable from the body
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knowledge is innate
ancient greeks
ARISTOTLE
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knowledge is not preexisting
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knowledge grows from experiences stored in memories
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derive truth from physical world → led to basis of
scientific method
scientific revolution: 1600-1750
RENE DESCARTES
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mind and body interact
o mind controls the body
o the body provides the mind with sensory input to
decipher
some body movements are not controlled by the mind
→ called them reflexes
scientific revolution: 1600-1750
JOHN LOCKE
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empiricism: acquisition of truth through
observations/experiences
blank slate: all knowledge must be learned; nothing is
innate
NURTURE over nature
scientific revolution: 1600-1750
THOMAS HOBBES
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materialism: only things that exist are matter and
energy; mind is meaningless
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our conscious experience is a by-product of the brain
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NATURE over nurture
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influenced behaviorism
scientific revolution: 1600-1750
WILHELM WUNDT
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founder of psychology as a science
conducted first laboratory experiment (looking at
people’s consciousness)
scientific revolution: 1600-1750
EDWARD TITCHENER
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Wundt’s student
structuralism: looked at elementary structures of
human mind; parts to understand mind
introspection: interview process with subject describing
his/her conscious experience
scientific revolution: 1600-1750
WILLIAM JAMES
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functionalism: function of mind to solve complex
problems; whole
how mental and behavioral processes function to enable
organisms to adapt, survive, and flourish
contemporary psychology: 1900s+
DATES
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1920s: psychology defined as
o science of mental life
1920s-1960s: psychology defined as
o scientific study of observable behavior
contemporary psychology: 1900s+
SIGMUND FREUD
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father of comprehensive psychology
had large variety of theories that were never
experimented
contemporary psychology: 1900s+
WATSON & SKINNER
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behavioralists
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rooted psychology in studying observable behaviors
contemporary psychology: 1900s+
ROGERS & MASLOW
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humanistic
importance of environmental influences on growth
potential
contemporary psychology: 1900s+
COGNITIVE REVOLUTION
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importance of internal thought process
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ways we perceive, process, and remember information
contemporary psychology: 1900s+
TODAY
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psychology defined as
o scientific study of behavior AND mental processes
kthxbye.
good luck on the quiz! :)